City gears up for 2024 Oktoberfest at Bürgermeister Ball celebration
Published 5:00 am Thursday, September 26, 2024
Tuesday’s Bürgermeister Ball on the grounds of Cullman’s St. Bernard Abbey signaled the approach of local Oktoberfest festivities for 2024, while introducing incoming Bürgermeister Amy McAfee Wood as the official ambassador for this year’s event, set to kick off with opening ceremonies on Thursday, Oct. 3.
Wood, a Cullman native with deep family ties to the area, told the Bürgermeister Ball crowd that there’s a special significance to her ceremonial role: her father, longtime community leader and businessman Danny McAfee, passed away in October of last year, and she’ll be using a mallet that he made to perform next Thursday’s keg-tapping honors.
The Oct. 3 Oktoberfest opening ceremonies Oktoberfest will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Cullman Festhalle, launching a three-day slate of all-day activities (Oct. 3 through Oct. 5) that celebrate the city’s rich German heritage.
Be sure to arrive early on Thursday for the 6 p.m. Cullman Oktoberfest Parade, before Oktoberfest staples like the crowning of this year’s Miss Oktoberfest, a brat eating contest, and an 8 p.m. stein hoisting contest all carry the celebration into the festival’s opening night. Guided candlelight walking tours that same evening will invite guests to go exploring through the historic downtown area.
In between planned events, this year’s Oktoberfest will feature two places for guests to gather in the city’s Festhalle entertainment district area: The Goat Island Community Biergarten, which is open to the public; as well as the Hofbräuhaus Biergarten — where a $40 pass gets guests three-day access, plus a commemorative stein and vouchers for food and drinks.
The Oktoberfest kids’ zone is growing even bigger for 2024, offering carnival rides (including a first-time-ever Ferris wheel), tons of incidental things to do, and a planned lineup of scheduled kids’ activities through all three days of the festival.
From the hugely popular Wiener Dog Race to costume contests and more, Oktoberfest in Cullman will feature all the family-friendly festivities that have earned the event recent regional recognition (such as being named alongside festivals in Nashville and Helen, Ga. to StyleBlueprint’s list of the six must-see Oktoberfest celebrations across the South).
Visit the festival’s official website at cullmanoktoberfestival.com for a full schedule of all the Oktoberfest activities taking place this weekend and the next, and stay updated in real time on social media by finding “Cullman Oktoberfest” on Facebook.